If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you probably heard that my sister broke her back yesterday. I hasten to add that it appears she's going to be okay, but has a few painful and slow weeks ahead of her. Technically, she has a 20% compression fracture in her T12 vertebrae, but after a bunch of waiting around in the emergency and observation departments it was determined to be a "stable" injury with no chance of damage to the spinal cord. "You can go dancing if you want", said the doctor. "But you won't want to."

I'm sure that Janice will tell her own story, so instead here are my newly acquired tips on amusing a baby while waiting in an emergency waiting room. We debated whether or not to bring Elizabeth. Daddy had to go to a meeting so in the end we decided it would be best if Elizabeth came along.

Bring Food. I really hope Elizabeth has avoided celiac disease because Cheerios are the best snack. ever! We've tried a few gluten-free options but so far they either taste like cardboard or taste like cardboard AND make Elizabeth's hands smell like chemical sugar. Food doubles as a noisy toy if you keep the lid on and allow baby to shake the container.

Sit in the quiet area of the room. The Ottawa General Emergency department is divided up into several "rooms". The part at the back of the emergency was nearly empty most of the time we were there. Elizabeth spent a lot of time crawling away from us and being hauled back by her sweater. The quiet area was big and empty enough that she probably could have been given slightly more freedom but it's very hard on the legs to hover crouched in the middle of a room for hours at a time.

Bring Grandma. We were so grateful that Grandma was willing to come along and play with Elizabeth so that I could hang out with my sister and make sure that the doctors and nurses were paying proper attention to her.

Great tips. I took Ali to the doctor with me today, and the best thing (at her age) is her Leapster. AWESOME way to keep her entertained, sitting and not running through the germs of the waiting room, and quiet..